Bomb Scare at Medicine Hat College

Wednesday morning at 10:25, the Medicine Hat College received a phone call to the switchboard claiming there was a bomb on campus. After the fire alarms were triggered, the building was evacuated of all students and faculty. It was a short time after that, when emergency services arrived to sweep the campus. There was absolutely nothing found on the premises that was unusual or out of the ordinary, and the College was cleared to re-open around noon.

The college President & CEO Dr. Ralph Weeks released his statement about the bomb scare. “Our first priority is always the safety and security of students and employees. The decision to close the campus and conduct a safety check is disruptive but is the prudent course of action in a situation like this.”

While it interfered with students that were present, and in the middle of writing final exams, it was also very disruptive for students who were waiting to find out if their exams were going to go on as scheduled. I personally felt that this situation was more than likely, nothing short of a student who needed more study time. I had phoned the campus daycare, as a first priority to ensure that my child was okay, and was told this type of scare normally falls in the middle of final exams. Regardless of why it was done, it certainly was no joke to students, faculty or parents with a child on the premises.

I have to say that Medicine Hat College was very proactive with this situation. I received two e-mails from the College explaining the situation, and was advised to keep checking messages to find out further details. Not only that, but there were updates on Twitter and the MHCollege fan page of Facebook.

There is still no word on the culprit, or if they have been caught. I’m curious though, to know if it was a student and what their final exam was for!